breaking news tonight on money front, both here and overseas. scrambling to learn who turned tamerlan tsarnaev to radical islam. they are grappling at home with the grim possibility, i do want to stress it's just a possibility now that they may have dropped the ball. two potential red flags, one to the fbi and one to the cia. they mishandled and opportunities they missed that might have prevented this tragedy. we have new reporting on all of that to you.

but two potential red flags, one to the fbi and now one to the cia were mistakenly down played or otherwise mishandled and opportunities were missed that might have prevented this tragedy. we have new reporting on all of that for you. and reporting as well on a jihadist in russia. he was on the youtube channel after he came back from russia, he met with former members of the sector who -- did they teach them to make bombs? we don't know. >> we just had a young person who went to russia and chechnya that blew people up in boston. he didn't stay where he went but he learned something where he went and came back with a willingness to kill people. >> there's also the shadowy figure known as misha, the russian name would be michael who may have helped radicalize the older brother. again, may have. the suspect's father, not the mother, who's wanted on shoplifting charges here will be

flying to boston possibly tomorrow or friday. we're learning about how the two brothers lived and where they got their money. allegedly from selling drugs. that is a theory that law enforcement is working on. they don't have specific evidence on that. we'll find out more details tonight. many new developments as well as this. boyleston street, which has been a crime scene for a week and a half became a city street again. there's a memorial set up on copley square just a few blocks from there. the scars are remaining, but this is part of the strong city and this is no longer an open wound. and earlier today, more than 4,000 people, singer james taylor included gathered to remember a fallen mit police officer. murdered the suspect fled last thursday. vice president biden was at the service calling the bombing suspects twisted, perverted, cowardly knockoff jihadi. what did authorities here and there know about the pair,

especially the older one who travelled to russia last year for six months and was on the radar of russian intelligence a year before that. breaking news tonight from nick peyton walsh and joe johns and gloria borger tonight in washington. joe, we start with you. we know the fbi was approached in 2011 to say the older brother was flirting with extremism, now you're hearing the cia was approached later that year by the russians. what happened? >> that's right. the cia nominated him. put him up as a candidate for a terror watch list system. it's our understanding the agency's involvement led to an entry into one of the databases. it also says it shared its other information with agencies and departments which we believe to be the state department, homeland security, fbi and the national counter terrorism center, and we understand cia gave out different possible spellings of his name, and two possible dates of birth, anderson?

>> gloria, at this point do we know what the russians said to the u.s. about this guy, about the quality and information coming from the russians? >> here's what we know. we know that the information was thinned, we know that the russians are not likely to give up their sources to us it and when the united states authorities went back to them on more than one occasion and asked for more information, i'm told they did not get a case report back to us. having said that, anderson, the fact that this information was coming from the russians at all should raise a red flag. >> what about the money here? i mean, there is a money trail here that has to be followed. doesn't appear to be an extensive plot. you got some information about -- or a theory that law enforcement is working with financing this spot or his income. his trip to russia. >> right. they call it a working theory. investigators are looking into

whether he sold drugs as a way to earn income. we know that he had a wife who worked -- we know that the family was on welfare until 2012. as you point out, anderson, this is not a really expensive plot. not an expensive bomb. but he did go back to russia, and he had to finance that somehow and help his family while he was gone for six months, right? >> right. and it also just doesn't make sense to me, this is a guy who's married, has a small child. he tells his wife, i'm leaving for russia to rediscover my roots for six months. i'm going to leave you with this little kid, fend for yourself? >> right. >> there's a lot we don't know about the six month period in russia. do we know what piqued the russian's interests in the first place? i know gloria said they keep things close to the vest, but do we know why they were suspicious enough to alert u.s. officials?

>> the best thing we have on that, anderson is the fbis narrative, russia had information that he was going to go there and join up with some unspecified underground groups. they say they made the request because he was a follow lower of radical islam, follow lower, believer, and he changed drastically since 2010, anderson. >> nick, in dagestan, it was reported the mother and brothers of these two were headed there tomorrow. now you're reporting something different? just one person is allegedly going to come to the united states. >> that's correct. information is changing all the time this week. the last i heard, only the father will be going to the united states, and he'll be traveling after tomorrow. that could be friday or perhaps russian state media saying they were both going today thursday, here in russia. much confusion about this.

it's not clear if the mother is not going for personal reasons or any outstanding charges. anderson? >> there was an arrest warrant or there is an arrest warrant out for the mother on shoplifting charges and destruction of property charges. do we know if that played a part in her decision not to come because she could be arrested and very likely would be arrested if she came to the united states. >> when i spoke to her, she was very emotional about her son. i can imagine she wants to go to the u.s. to take forth in any burial that's forthcoming. she hasn't been specific about that. much of what we've been hearing, is that it may just be the father going back to the u.s., anderson. >> gloria, as jeff toobin, our

legal analyst pointed out earlier in the 8:00 hour, even if the father does come, he has no right to meet with his son. and if he did, law enforcement could very easily eavesdrop on th that, listen to that, and anything that was discussed could be information they can use. there's no privileged conversation between a father and son. you also have information about the kinds of questions investigators are now asking about the brothers and their families. what are you hearing? >> right. and first of all, they're asking questions about the russians, we don't know, for example, anderson, whether they were monitoring tamerlan when he went back to dagestan. they're looking into the parents, the asylum. why were they looking to go back to a country they said they were prosecuted? they're asking questions about income, where he got his money, was he subsidized. did he do it as investigators

are looking at, did he sell drugs? so there are all kinds of loose ends that they've got to look at. anderson, quite frankly, they have to look at themselves and make sure that their information, that they were sharing information in the appropriate ways and that this just department get stove piped, as we call it, in washington because that was supposed to end on 9/11. >> talking to nic robertson earlier who is also in dagistan. there's a mosque that is a hotbed of radicalism. the question that remains, did the older brother have any connections with that mosque. did he attend. we're still trying to find out information about that. appreciate your reporting. a lot more to talk about globally, as well as locally. joining us now is former massachusetts homeland security adviser, juliet kayyem. tom fuentes is joining us and

bob bahre. we know the fbi and cia were aware of the elder brother. and yet he was available to plan an attack on u.s. soil. is there anyway to see this as a failure? >> we shouldn't look at it as a failure of the fbi. we don't know what they knew and when they knew it. what is a failure, there's been no way to unify databases. the elder brothers buying explosives in new hampshire. gun powder. he had to give a driver's license for that. immigrations, his leaving. was the fbi in boston pinged on that? we know they weren't pinged on the return. but if you can take all this information and combine it. there would have been much clearer red flag on this. why isn't the fbi getting all this information? frankly, we don't know what's in the national security agency. normally the fbi does not have access to that raw intelligence.

and so i think we're doing a disservice to the fbi by not getting it enough information on a timely basis. >> tom fuentes, do you see it in the same way? >> not exactly. much has been made about, aren't these agencies sharing since 9/11, the information stove piped. i can tell you the way a joint terrorism task force is set up, every member of all of these agencies sit side by side. and all of them have access to these databases. it's not like you need to send a communication formally from the fbi to the department of homeland security or from the fbi to the state department. the representatives are sitting right there, and seeing the same information and have access to the same database. so that part of discussions in recent times is just not accurate that information is stove piped. yes, there are different

databases but they have different purposes. and so the key linkup is the terror screening center, the tide database we heard of, which only has 500,000 names on it, to keep track of. that's why you have all of these different issues. >> tom, what interests you most in the last 24 hours that you've heard? >> i think i still want to know, what happened in russia. if allegedly russia is sending communications to both fbi and cia and saying, we have information that this guy intends to come to russia and meet with militants here, well, those militants are under 24/7 coverage in russia, as evidenced by the fact that abu dujan, he's killed by the russians in a major firefight this past december. so obviously, my expectation would be if they're suspicious of tamerlan and they're watching this group, he should have

wandered into their surveillance and come up on their radar by that. additionally, russia doesn't have the first amendment, fourth amendment, fifth amendment. they have no problem with, if they have radicals in a mosque, they're going to cover it. if they have militants meeting. they're going to cover it. if they have political groups that say bad things about the russian regime. this is a regime that just locked up a rock 'n' roll group because they criticized putin. i have a hard time understanding that this guy, when he arrives in russia, and meets with people that are so high on their radar, they kill him. how does that happen? >> they don't even have to allow him in russia, if they don't want to, right? >> that's right. what we know now is that the russians have told two federal agencies the same concern about the older brother.

one of the federal agencies , the fbi, reviewed it, didn't get very far. russians go to the cia. none of those agencies determined on their own that this was a threat. this is where the information is now. he goes off to russia, the russians don't view him as a threat. because they're not watching him, they have standards that are very different from ours, that is what we know right now, the intelligence pieces are being put together to figure out, was there a ping that we should have gotten, because the russians told us something specific? it seems clear they didn't. or because information one agency had was not shared with another. it seems like every agency looking at it did not find him as a threat. it's hard for us to believe that now. but they were all going on the same information. >> also, tom pointed out, they have 500,000 people on this list. it's easy to say, they should have focused more on this guy. >> you have that many people on the list. there's dozens of intelligence agencies for all sorts of reasons. in fact, state and local regions get involved in this as well. the jtts has state and local representatives as they do in

boston. you want the first list to be big, and then you whittle it down until you get to the no fly list or the terror watch list. those are the most extreme ones. you want that to be small otherwise they're going to miss people. >> anderson, this is not a routine request from russia. it just isn't. russians rarely do this. >> why would they have allowed him into russia? >> we don't know. they're inefficient as well. it's not a complete and total police state there. you can get through. names are misspelled on passports. they do make mistakes as well. dagestan is a chaotic situation. the russians don't bring this up without a very good reason. the question is why did the cia and the fbi decide that he wasn't a threat? on what basis? it's not like these things come in every day about.

>> bob, in your gut, the key to you is what happened those six months in russia, right? >> absolutely. i mean, this could have been completely home grown, let's not exclude that. much scarier than if it came from abroad. i cannot believe he was in russia, in dagestan, converting to militant islam and didn't seek out fellow travelers. it doesn't seem reasonable to me. >> right. and adding to that, as we know, there's a lot of that six-month time line we don't know. he didn't show up at his dad's place or aunt's place until several months in his journey. we don't know what he was doing in all that time. he wasn't meeting with his relatives or living off his relatives. he didn't have money, had been living on welfare here in the united states. didn't have a job. how was he supporting himself, what was he doing? that's an open question. tom, julia, bob -- go ahead. >> i don't like the fact -- running gun battle with the police.

he got in a fight with the police. there's -- on the face of it, he has some sort of military experience. you don't shoot it out, throw bombs out of the car, in a confrontation like this, unless you have some sort of prior experience. >> there's a level of confidence in that activity. bob, i appreciate it, tom, juliette as well. let us know what you all think about this. follow me on twitter during the next commercial break. i'll be trying to tweet throughout the hour. we have more on how the older suspect became more devout and allegedly radicalized. misha, it's russian for michael. he may have played a key role in that process. a shadowy figure if he even exists. we don't know. we're trying to figure out details on that. and trying to find out if law enforcement is looking into this misha character. also we're looking at the wife that tamerlan left.

if you're married, you say to your wife, i'm leaving for russia for six months, i don't have a job, there's no way for me to give you money, i'm leaving you with this infant child. officials want to know what her role was if any of what was going on in that house. we'll be right back.

breaking news tonight, two warnings from russian intelligence about the older bombing suspect. first the fbi, and then the cia cleared him. the cia recommended him for inclusion in a terrorism related database, which he was. he was not, however, put on a no fly list. he had at least one influence here at home in cambridge, a shadowy figure known as misha. it's the russian nickname for michael. brian todd has been working that angle. he joins us now. i've heard a lot about it in the last 24 hours about it. what do we know about him, and do you buy his influence? >> we have an indication that he exists. it's not that clear that he does it's from a former brother-in-law that wolf blitzer spoke to today. he said he met this person

twice, he was introduced to him. he witnessed some of the conversations. he says he didn't witness him, quote, radicalizing tamerlan but he did say that he saw him speaking to him about things that could maybe turn him in that direction. he said, he's not suspected that this guy had any terrorist leanings but he saw him, he spoke to him and he met him. that's about the most tangible evidence that we have that exists. >> i saw that interview, the brother-in-law admits he has not seen tamerlan in the last two years, but he's talked to his father, and his father had expressed some concern about this guy? >> that's right. he said this to other news organizations that at one point i think it was around 2007, misha was there, and the father got upset and said, what is he doing here, get him out of there. that caused family tension. we already know there was family tension over other issues. >> right. it seems like what was happening inside that house is the father was not himself becoming more

devoutly religious whereas the mother was, the mother and tamerlan, and kind of trading these conspiracy theories from a blog posting who a woman who got statements from the mother, started talking about 9/11 conspiracy theories that her son had gotten off the internet. >> there are some accounts that the mother and father might have had arguments about him being around this guy misha, we're not quite sure, we also have asked this mosque, the islamic society of boston where they went. do you know him? do you have any connection with him? that would seem the most natural place where they had met. nobody has heard of him, nobody has seen -- anyone of his description, we don't know him, and we want to find him. >> the description that i read, i don't know if this is accurate. is of a bald guide with a red beard of armenian dissent. >> we tracked him all day in the boston area, we don't necessarily think he's here.

we're still tracking him, we looked up addresses. >> the key thing is, law enforcement is taking is seriously, we don't know the answer. we're not saying, we're trying to trace this guy down. >> they're not commenting on this misha thing and the indications we're getting is that they may not know a lot about them right now. >> brian todd, thanks for running that down for us today. new information about the widow of tamerlan. we've been talking to people who know katie russell as well as her family. what they are saying about her, their relationship and what if anything she knew about what her husband was up to. also, still to come, what former president george w. bush has to say about the bombings. what he was thinking when he heard the news. we'll also have john king's interview with the former president coming up. we'll be right back.

boylston street the scene of a crime is open again today. among the people who came to the street was victoria mcgrath whose legs were severely injured. deborah? >> reporter: the coincidence that we happened to be here when she arrived and two other girls were passing by and all of them began hugging each other. they were standing basically where i'm standing right now. this was the site of the first bomb blast. you can see the memorial that's here right now. what's fascinating, when the blast went off, it came up from underneath and then they were paralyzed for what felt like 5, 10 seconds. they didn't understand what was going on, and then all of a

sudden things got into focus and they saw colors and they couldn't hear. it was almost as if they were experiencing it in slow motion. one thing they told me that was so striking. some of the folks that were nearest the blast, they absorbed the impact of the device, and others just walked away virtually unscathed. a twist of fate. they're still trying to come to terms with what happened. but they say, it's crazy, it feels like a dream, anderson. >> i was there earlier today. it was a somber and respectful mood. a lot of people have laid flowers. a makeshift memorial has sprung up where the blast went off. can you show us where they are right now, i know they've been taking out a section of concrete earlier? >> they have. these are the stores that absorbed most of the impact. right here, this is where they believe the bomb went off. the forensic agents, the fbi and atf were here, and picking up

physical pieces of evidence. this is a brand new concrete that's been laid down here. they removed that, and they're going to -- they're testing things, the blast pattern, bringing shrapnel out of pieces of stone and concrete. back here, you can see the windows are still blown out. all of that is going to be analyzed so investigators can understand how this device worked. they still don't know how exactly the device worked, how it was put together. and the impact of the shrapnel. all of that is being investigated. here a somber mood, people reflecting and realizing that tamerlan tsarnaev was standing pretty much where i am. >> deborah, appreciate that. we're learning more about tamerlan tsarnaev's wife, katie russell. more information about her, she said through her attorney that she had no idea what her husband was planning. her attorney says she's

cooperating with law enforcement as much as she can. is she actually talking to law enforcement? people who know katie are speak out. what are you hearing in north kingstown, in rhode island there? >> well, anderson, we talked to a number of people who knew katie, who know the russell family today, many of them have told me she was very likeable, well liked when she was in school. a good student. i spoke to her boss at the doughnut shop where she works when she was in high school down the road. she was very dependable, very good with the money and like a daughter to him. i spoke with one of her co-workers at the time. robin aldridge, she doesn't think katie's getting a fair shake from the media and some of the people in this town. here's what she had to say a little earlier today. >> what are people saying? >> that she doesn't have a mind of her own. and that she is a terrorist's wife. okay -- i don't know, she

married the wrong person or -- i don't think his actions should, you know, be taken out on her. >> erin, you also spoke to russell's attorney briefly. what did he tell you? >> it was actually, there were two attorneys, and i spoke to the she. and she said earlier today, essentially that they're not talking, that she's acting on behalf of her client. they would not confirm or deny anything. we had a couple sensitive questions for her. she wouldn't say whether or not katherine has talked to the fbi yet. around her house here in north kingstown, there are a lot of federal agents here earlier today, a lot of media, that's largely died down. we don't know whether she's spoken to them or not, they will not say. anderson. >> erin, appreciate it. john king interviewed former president george w. bush in advance of the dedication of his library. talk to me about what he was thinking when he heard about the

boston bombings nine days ago? >> i was reminded that evil exists and that there are people in the world who are willing to kill innocent people to advance a cause. i don't know what this cause is, but we'll find out.

the nation stands with the good people of new york city and new jersey and connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens. >> the last major terror attack on american soil before the

boston bombings happened on president george w. bush's watch. that happened almost 12 years ago. who can forget the image of the president there at ground zero. the george w. bush library is going to be dedicated. all four living former presidents will attend. so will president obama. the library opens to the public coming up next month. laura bush had a big hand in its design. it's been more than four years since the first couple left the white house. they are now grandparents. john king talked to them inside the new library. >> mr. president, mrs. bush, thank you for your time. congratulations this is a beautiful place. >> thank you very much. >> she's a beautiful child. >> interesting time of life. >> it is. >> i want to spend most of our time on the lessons we will learn when we visit this place over the years. as the man who was commander in

chief on 9/11, what went through your mind when you heard explosions at the finish line of the boston marathon? >> i was reminded that evil exists and that there are people in the world who are willing to kill innocent people to advance a cause. i don't know what this cause is. but we'll find out. during the same week in a town close to us in crawford, a plant exploded. and both incidents reminded me of how fragile life can be for some. and both incidents, you know, made us weep knowing that somebody was hurting a lot. >> let's focus on this place. it's beautiful. you're the librarian in the family. are you the decider when it comes to this building? >> well, i was the chairman of the design committee. >> yes is the answer.

>> but it was really fun for me to work on this because i am a librarian, and i'm particularly interested in architecture. we're very proud of the way it looks. it looks terrific. >> it's an elegant building just like the chairman of the design committee. >> you will have all of the living presidents there for the dedication. >> you bet. >> what have you learned from the formers? your dad, president clinton, president carter, about how to be most effective in a post presidency? >> well, you learn that life doesn't end after you're president. in other words, you're going 100 miles an hour, and until my case we walk up in crawford and i was going zero. the challenge is how to live life to its fullest. in my case, i've chosen to do so outside the limelight. on the other hand, i am confident that when this chapter of our life is finished, we will both be able to say that we've advanced the cause of peace and freedom and the -- helped improve the human condition. >> one of the things that i

think is fascinating about the library, you've created this exhibit called the decision points theater. >> yeah. >> where any visitor can walk in and see some of the advice you got -- >> you bet, and then make their own decisions based on what you saw at the time. i want to go to one of those. which is the iraq decision, something people always debate when they talk about that word you don't like, legacy. people in that room will see what you saw at the time. based on what you know now, do you wish that instead of the rumsfeld doctrine, which was lean and mean, that you could maybe adopt what your dad did in the first gulf war and gone in with overwhelming force? >> in my book, i pointed out there are some, you know, tactics that need to be revisited. on the other hand, the removal of saddam hussein was the right decision. america's more secure.

the iraqi people have a chance to live in a free society. the museum is a -- it does get people the opportunity to hear the different points of view that i got on these particular issues. the purpose of which is not to try to defend the policy, but to show people what it's like to be the president and how you make decisions. history will ultimately judge the decisions that were made for iraq, and i'm just not going to be around to see the final verdict. >> not going to be around is an interesting way to put it. >> in other words, i'll be dead. >> you focus on the empowerment of women. what's your sense now of what you can do and what the institute can do if you look at that region, if it's iraq we talk about, if it's syria, egypt. it's a volatile stage.

have the rights of women in some stage been set back because of all of the volatility? >> not necessarily, no. i think people worldwide are looking at the rights of women. you look at countries where women's rights are marginalized and half the population is looked at, left out. you usually see a failing country. that's what we saw in afghanistan. i'm still worried about the women in afghanistan as we draw down our numbers of troops. >> what can you do about that? >> on the other hand women have made great strides in afghanistan. >> democracies take time to evolve. laura and i believe women will help lead the democracy movements in these young democracies. and part of our after life will be to enable and empower women. and to remind our country that our involvement overseas is necessary to our national security. >> i want to ask you, what will

we learn from the theater and from all the memos that eventually will be made public about one of the toughest decisions of your presidency, which was right before katrina. you had to decide whether to send in the federal troops. you had a big debate whether to overrule the governor? >> that's right. i think you'll learn about the dilemma of federal law about natural disasters. natural disasters have been left to the governors and the role of the federal governments to be supportive. in this case, it was so overwhelmingly, and the infrastructure was so overwhelmed i had a tough choice to make. people would just learn the facts, that's all i care about, that's what i wrote in my book which i'm sure you vociferously studied. >> you talk about the idea that you have a southern governor, a woman governor in a state with a large african-american population. a former governor yourself. people were telling you, maybe you need to declare an insurrection.

>> which would have been difficult. >> not pretty difficult, it would have been difficult. it points out the dilemma. >> do you wish in hindsight you would have done it? >> no. no telling how history would have recorded the situation. i can tell you the decibel level would have risen louder than it was. the point is is that this helps americans understand, one, the decisions that i made during a massive storm. but also, points out that the dilemmas that presidents face. not just me but every president. and you just have to pick and make the best judgment call you can. and hopefully people will go to the decision point and say, i didn't understand that or i now understand it better, it's interesting to me, they say, of how a president makes decisions and hopefully it will help them make better decisions. >> john king joins me now from dallas. it's interesting to see the former president, and his wife.

you walk through the library. what's it like, what did you find most interesting? >> we'll hear more from the president in a moment. when you walk through the library, people should come here and visit whether you agree with him or not, whether you supported him or not. you see from the beginning the presidency he planned and then the presidency he had. you start out in a room where there are school books, children's books. he wanted to focus on education reform. then you see the state dinner on september 6th, 2001, president fox of mexico at the time. candidate bush promised humble foreign policy. it would be focused on latin america. and then you step across the threshold and you are on september 11th. you see the towers, the bull horn the president had. and you see a twisted piece of steel, right in the middle of that room, and you are reminded of how in a flash on that crisp september morning this presidency changed. as you take a few more steps, you see pictures of saddam hussein and the statue coming

down in baghdad. you see how the president rallied the country after 9/11, and you step into what became the biggest controversy with katrina of his administration, the decision to go from all that 9/11 popularity into what became such an unpopular war in iraq. >> it's fascinating he was being advised to declare an insurrection. >> you talk about a lot of different subjects. including the different intentions among his white house team. part two of jorch john's interview is next.

tomorrow president obama and all four living former presidents are going to be in dallas. former president bush's white house team will be there as well. his advisers and staffers have talked pretty candidly about his bumps in the white house. that's where part two of john king's interview with george and laura bush picks up. >> your friend and long-time adviser karen use told me the combination of the rising opposition for the iraq war and then katrina came right at that moment.

she said it cast a huge shadow over the rest of the presidency. is that a fair assessment? >> you know, historians will judge that. >> was it hard to get things done? >> i tried to get immigration reform happened and it didn't happen. and social security reform. those two issues didn't take place. i don't think it was because of any shadows, i think it was because, one, congress was reluctant to take on a difficult issue like social security. in other words, the elective body tends to be reactive, and until a crisis is imminent, it's hard to get them to move forward. on immigration reform, a popular streak hit and it made it difficult to do. the job of the president is to anticipate problems and encourage the legislative body to move. eventually these problems will get solved. >> many in your party abandoned you on immigration. >> and social security. >> do you see a sense of redemption when you see the party saying we need to do a whole lot of this. >> i don't view it as

redemption, i view it as smart and logical. i'm real proud of my little brother being out there and pushing the issue because he understands the issue well. the president has to understand that not every issue gets solved during his presidency. he can contribute to the ultimate solution. >> i want to ask each of you. looking back, now that you're removed from the daily politics. and especially the end of the presidency was a polarizing time. how much do you think that the angst about katrina, the opposition to the iraq war just hardened some people so that they couldn't see other things? remarkable work against malaria and aids in africa. the medicare prescription drug benefits. under budget according to most costs. many of your fellow republicans say, why did george w. bush give us this liberal entitlement? >> john, i'm really not that

concerned about why people did what during my presidency, i'm more concerned about being an effective person for the rest of my life. i know this, laura and i gave the presidency eight years of our lives. we gave it our all, made the best judgment calls i could. didn't compromise my principles, and i'm a content man. and i'm excited about what we're going to do here. >> you made two trips to africa since leaving office. i understand a third one coming up. >> yes, sir. >> what draws you there? >> the human condition. i think it's important to set priorities in life. i always said that one of the principles that was important to me was human life. we went to africa and saw people dying, needlessly dying. there's nothing more important i

think and laura thinks as well, to help somebody live. and so during my presidency i convinced congress to spend taxpayers' money to save lives, not only from hiv but as well from malaria, and it worked. we wanted to continue that type of work with cervical cancer. >> this will bring your team together? >> yes, it will. >> the dedication. we talked to a lot of them in recent days. at the end of the presidency there was strain over the disagreements in the second term, over the scooter libby pardon. was that strained? >> no, it was never strained. that's the mythology that's -- that we've escaped. in other words, there's a mythology in washington, there's kind of a -- >> he writes in his book that things were tense. >> not really. scooter libby, yeah, he didn't

agree with that decision. people are going to look at the total pictures. and we're friends then and friends now. >> can you enlighten us to the painting? [ laughter ] >> george w. rembrandt. >> he was looking for a pastime when he gave up smoking cigars. so he read churchill's book, painting is a pastime. and he's actually very good. he's a very good painter. >> what do you get from it? >> a lot of things. i relax, i see colors differently. i am i guess tapping a part of the brain that i certainly never used when i was a teenager and i get some satisfaction out of completing a project. i paint people's pets and i love to give them their pet as a gift.

i read dilly -- readily concede the signature is more valuable than the painting. >> he's become a pet portrait painter. >> it's hard to say quickly. >> this is my second dedication of a bush presidential library. i was at your fathers, i am happy to be at this one. will i ever go to a third? >> that's a good question. you know, i don't know. i think because of his example, his grandchildren and children admire his service and realize you can go into the public arena and not lose your soul. and that you can be a good father and still be a political figure. he's been an inspiration for me, obviously. but as well, brother, sister and grandchildren. there's no telling, there is a nephew, george p. bush who is here in texas. >> you're not skipping jeb, are you?

>> well, big jeb has a decision to make. and if i could make it for him, it would be run. but i can't. and i don't know what he's going to do. he would be a great candidate and a great president. but i do know his son, george p. has made up his mind and he's running for general land commission in texas. an important position. and i think will do very well if given the chance to serve. >> do you prefer the post presidency to the presidency? >> no, i loved it, every part of our lives. when we were in midland, texas, to those eight years in the white house. it's a huge privilege to live at the white house and serve the american people. and here back home in dallas. >> congratulations. thank you for your time. good luck with this place. >> it's fascinating to hear them in depth like that. president bush says he's content. do you think he's really as

unconcerned as he seems about his legacy, about what people think of him? >> yes and no, in the sense that it is who he is. remember, all during his presidency he was like this. he's not at least publicly introspective. if you go inside this campus, this library, it's very impressive again. whether you like or dislike george w. bush. it's an impressive place. there's a sculpture in the center court of president 41. and 43. this is a competitive family. george w. was around two reagan terms. his father's one term. he was stunned when his father lost. he's a very competitive person and loyal republican. you heard him nudging his brother jeb to run in 2016. you have a proud republican, and a proud family that's treated like pariah's right now. he says it's like water on a duck. privately of course it bothers him. he's grateful it's turned back his way on immigration. we'll watch tomorrow. it will be interesting to see his dad speak. three democrats are going to

have to say good things about george w. bush, anderson. >> yeah. interesting. i'll be anchoring our coverage starting at 11:00 tomorrow of the dedication, i hope you join us for that. john king will be integral for that as well. thank you for that in depth interview tonight. that does it for us. we'll be back tomorrow at 8:00 eastern time. erin burnett outfront starts right after the break. front st right after the break.

. breaking news. explosions and flames too difficult to fight. a fire burning out of control in a pair of field barges close to a cruise ship. >> new clues in the investigation into the boston marathon bombings. we now know what may have been used to trigger the deadly blasts. plus, tracking down the russian connection. cnn with a first-hand look at the place where the suspects may have learned to make their bombs. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman in boston. we'll have live coverage from here coming up in a few